Author 



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16—47372-3 



NEW-YOEI SCHOOL LAW. 



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AN ACT 

More effectually to provide for Common School Education 
in the City and County of New-York. Passed MayHth^ 
1844, by a two-third vote^ 

The People of the State of New- York, represented in Senate 
and Assembly, do enact as follows : 

§ 1. There shall continue to be two Commissioners, two In- 
spectors, and five Trustees, in each of the Wards of the City 
and County of New- York ; and the Commissioners, Inspectors 
and Trustees, elected on the first Monday of June, eighteen 
hundred and forty-three, shall hold their offices, respectively, 
for the periods which were determined by drawing lots, at the 
time they were severally inducted into their offices. On the 
first Monday of June, eighteen hundred and forty-four, and 
on each following year, there shall be elected, in each of the 
said Wards, one Commissioner and one Inspector, whose term 
of service shall be two years ; and one Trustee, whose term 
of service shall be five years. The election, so to be held, 
shall be subject to the same laws, rules and regulations, in all 
respects, as now govern the Charter Elections in said City. 

§ 2. The Commissioners of Common Schools, so elected, 
shall constitute a Board of Education for the City and County 
of New- York, a majority of whom shall constitute a quorum ; 
they shall elect one of their number President of said Board, 
who shall preside at the meetings thereof, which shall be ?ield 
at least as often as once in three months ; and they may appoint 
a Clerk, whose compensation shall be fixed and paid by the 
said Board of Education. 



§ 3. All Schools organized under this Act, or which shall 
have been organized under the Act passed April 11, 1842, and 
the amended Act passed April IS, 1843, shall be designated 
Ward Schools, and shall be numbered consecutively, accord- 
ing to the time of their organization. The said Schools shall 
be subject to the Board of Education, and to the Commission- 
ers, Inspectors, and Trustees, of the respective Wards, in the 
manner and to the extent hereinafter provided. 

§ 4. Whenever the Clerk of the City and County of New- 
York shall receive notice from the Superintendent of Common 
Schools, of the amount of moneys apportioned to the City and 
County of New York, for the support and encouragement of 
Common Schools therein, he shall immediately lay the same 
before the Board of Supervisors of the City and County ; and 
the Chamberlain of the City and County of New- York, shall 
apply for and receive the School moneys apportioned to the 
said City and County, as soon as the same become payable, 
and place the same to the credit of the Mayor, Aldermen and 
Commonalty of the City of New- York, for the benefit of Com- 
mon Schools. 

§ 5. The said Board of Supervisors shall annually raise and 
collect, by tax, upon the inhabitants of said City and County, 
a sum af money equal to the sum specified in such notice, at 
the same time, and in the same manner, as the contingent 
charges of the said City and County are levied and collected ; 
also, a sum of money equal to one -twentieth of one per cent, 
of the value of the real and personal property in the said City, 
liable to be assessed thereon, to be applied exclusively to the 
purposes of Common Schools in said City ; and shall, also, 
rake and collect such further sum as may be necessary for the 
erecfmg, purchase or leasing of School Houses, and procuring 
the sites therefor, and the fitting up thereof, to be raised, levied 
and collected in like manner, and which shall be in lieu of all 



■Si ^Ox 



taxes and assessments, to the support of Common Schools for 
said City and County. And the Common Council of the City 
and County of New- York, are authorised and directed to raise, 
by loan, in anticipation of the taxes, when necessary, the 
moneys so to be raised, levied and collected, as aforesaid. 

§ 6. The said Common Council shall, on application of the 
Board of Education, and at such monthly or quarterly periods 
subsequent to the first day of May in every year, as they may 
determine, direct that a sum or sums of money, equal in the 
aggregate to the amount last received by the Chamberlain of 
said City and Countj?-, from the Common School Fund, togeth- 
er with the sum so received from the School Fund, and also 
one-twentieth of one per cent, as provided in the preceding 
section, be deposited by him in one of the incorporated Banks 
of the said City, (such Bank to be designated by the said Com- 
mon Council,) to the credit of the Commissioners of Common 
Schools in each of the said several Wards, and of the Societies 
and Schools enumerated in the eleventh section of this Act, in 
the proportions to which they shall respectively be entitled, 
and subject only to the drafts of the said Commissioners respec- 
tively, or of the Treasurer of the Societies or Schools entitled 
thereto, or to some person duly authorised by the Trustees of 
such Societies or Schools to receive the same. The said drafts 
to be countersigned as hereinafter provided by the President 
and Clerk of the Board of Education. 

§ 7. The balance of the funds to be raised, pursuant to sec- 
tion five of this Act, for the erection, purchase or leasing of 
School Houses, and procuring the sites therefor, and fitting up 
thereof, shall, from time to time, as such funds are provided by 
the Board of Supervisors, or by the Common Council, afore- 
said, be deposited with the Chamberlain of the City and County 
of New- York, subject to the disposal of the Board of Educa- 
tion, by appropriation for the establishment and orgatiization of 



4 

Schools, as provided in the eighth section of this Act ; but no 
portion of the said funds shall be drawn, without a special ap- 
propriation, by the said Board of Education ; and all drafts 
upon said funds, shall be made by the President of the Board, 
countersigned by the Clerk, and made payable to the order of 
the persons to whom the same shall be paid. 

§ 8. Whenever the Commissioners, Inspectors, and Trus- 
tees, elected in any Ward, or a majority of them, provided such 
majority shall include, at least, one Commissioner and one In- 
spector, shall certify, in writing, to the Board of Education of 
the City and County of New- York, that it is necessary to or- 
ganize one or more additional Schools in said Ward, with the 
facts and circumstances, showing such necessity, it shall be the 
duty of the said Board of Education, and they are hereby di- 
rected, to proceed without delay to investigate the subject, and 
to determine upon the necessity and expediency of establishing 
such School or Schools in said Ward or Wards, applying for 
the same. But should the applicants for the establishment of 
such Schools deem themselves aggrieved by such decision, the 
matter shall be referred to the decision of the Superintendent of 
Common Schools, who shall decide the propriety or impropriety 
of the establishment of such School, and his decision shall be 
binding on the party making such application, for the term of 
one year thereafter, 

§ 9. Upon a decision favorable to the establishment of a 
School or Schools in any of the Wards of the said City, it shall 
be lawful for the Commissioners and Inspectors of such Ward 
to proceed to organize one or more Schools, as the case may 
be, and to procure a School House, by hiring the same, or by 
purchasing a site, and erecting a building thereon, which said 
building and the fitting up thereof, or the fitting up of any hired 
building, shall be done by contract, to be advertised for the 
period of at least two weeks previous to deciding upon estimates 



thereon, unless such fitting' up shall not exceed the sura of 
two hundred dollars ; and the said Commissioners and Inspec- 
tors shall also furnish the books and stationery, and other es- 
sentials, necessary to organize such school, which shall, as far 
as practicable, be done by contract ; and the expense of estab- 
lishing and organizing any School, as above mentioned, shall 
be levied and raised, pursuant to section five of this Act, and 
the title to all lands purchased by virtue of this Act, with the 
buildings thereon, shall be vested in the Mayor, Aldermen and 
Commonalty of the City and County of New- York. 

§ 10. The Board of Education may apply to the Board of 
Supervisors, or to the said Common Council, for such sums as 
they shall require, by virtue of the ninth section of this act, to 
hire, purchase sites, and erect buildings, or to fit up and pro- 
perly organize the same ; and said Board of Supervisors, or the 
Common Council, aforesaid, shall raise and deposite the same, 
as provided by section five and section seven of this Act, 

§ 11. The Schools of the Public School Society, the New- 
York Orphan Asylum School, the Roman Catholic Orphan 
Asylum School, tlie Schools of the two Half Orphan Asylums, 
the School of the Mechanics' Society, the Harlem School, the 
Yorkville Public School, the Manhattanville Free School, the 
Hamilton Free School, the Institution for the Blind, the School 
of the Leake and Watts' Orphan House, the School connected 
with the Alms House of the said City, and the School of the 
Association for the Benefit of Colored Orphans, shall be sub- 
ject to the general supervision of the Board of Education, but 
under the immediate government and management of their res- 
pective Trustees, Managers and Directors ; and said Schools 
shall participate in the apportionment of the School moneys in 
the same manner and to the same extent as herein provided in 
respect to such Schools as may be organized under this act, or 
which shall have been organized under the act passed April 



llth, 1842, or the Amended Act, passed April 18th, 1843 : and 
including the support of Normal Schools of the Public School 
Society, for the education of Teachers, employed or to be em- 
ployed in any of the Schools subject to the provisions of this 
Act. Titles to all School property, real or personal, hereafter 
purchased from all moneys derived from the distribution of 
the School Fund, or raised by taxation in the City of New- 
York, shall be vested in the Mayor, Aldermen and Common- 
alty of said City. 

§ 12. It shall be the duty of the Board of Education to appor- 
tion all the School moneys, except so much as shall have been 
raised for the purpose of establishing and organizing new 
Schools, to each of the several Schools provided for by this 
Act, and the Acts mentioned in the preceding section, accord- 
ing to the number of children over four and under sixteen years 
of age, who shall have actually attended such School without 
charge the preceding year, and the average shall be ascertained 
by adding together the number of such children present at each 
morning and evening session of not less than three hours, and 
dividing the sum by four hundred and eighty. And if any 
School shall have been organized since the last annual appor- 
tionment, the average shall be ascertained by dividing the said 
sum by a number corresponding to the actual number of morn- 
ing and evening sessions of not less than three hours each, held 
since the organization of such school ; and if any ot the said 
newly organized Schools, by reason of peculiar circumstances 
shall be equitably entitled to a larger sum than they will receive 
under an apportionment so made, then the said Board of Educa- 
tion shall be authorized, and they are hereby required, to make 
for such Schools, such further allowance out of the said School 
moneys, as by the said Board of Education shall be deemed 
just and proper. But no School shall be entitled to a por- 
tion of the School moneys in which the religious sectarian 
doctrine or tenet of any particular Christian or other reli- 



gious sect shall be taught, inculcated or practised, or in 
which any book or books containing compositions favorable or 
prejudicial to the particular doctrine or tenets of any Christian 
sect, or which shall teach the doctrine or tenets of any other 
religious sect, or which shall refuse to permit the visits and ex- 
aminations provided for in this Act. If the school moneys, ap- 
portioned agreeably to this section, shall exceed the necessary 
and legal expenses of either of the schools or societies, provid- 
ed for in this Act, the Board of Education shall authorise the 
payment only of such necessary and legal expenses ; any balance 
remaining in deposit, at the end of each year, shall be paid by 
the Board of Education into the City Treasury, and any defi- 
ciency to meet the necessary legal expenses of either of the said 
schools or societies shall be supplied by the Common Council 
of the said city, in anticipation of the annual tax for the sup- 
port of common schools, as provided by section five of this 
Act. The Board of Education shall, in all cases, certify to the 
Common Council, the cause of such deficiency, and that the 
same was unavoidable, and unless such certificate shall be made, 
the said Common Council may refuse to raise the sum required 
to meet such deficiency. But nothing herein contained shall 
authorise the Board of Education to exclude the Holy Scrip- 
tures, without note or comment, or any selection therefrom, from 
any of the schools provided for by this Act ; but it shall not be 
competent for the said Board of Education to decide what ver- 
sion, if any, of the Holy Scriptures, without note or comment, 
shall be used in any of the said schools, provided that nothing 
herein contained, shall be so construed as to violate the rights 
of conscience as secured by the Constitution of this State and 
the United States. 

§ 13. It shall be the duty of the Commissioners, Inspectors 
and Trustees in each ward, from time to time, and as frequent- 
ly as need be, to examine, ascertain and report to the Board of 
Education, whether the provisions in the preceding section in 



8 

relation to the teaching of sectarian doctrines, or the use of sec- 
tarian books, shall have been violated, and it shall be the duty 
of the Commissioners of Schools in the several Wards, to trans- 
mit to the Board of Education all reports made to them by the 
Trustees and Inspectors of their respective Wards. The 
Board of Education, and any member thereof, may at any time 
visit and examine any School which shall be subject to the pro- 
visions of this Act, and individual Commissioners may report 
to the Board the result of their examinations. 

§ 14. The Board of Education shall file with the Chamber- 
lain of said City and County, on or before the first Monday of 
April in each year, a copy of their apportionment, stating the 
amount thereof to be paid to the Commissioners of each Ward, 
and to the Trustees, Managers or Directors of the several 
Schools enumerated in the eleventh section of this Act. And 
the Chamberlain of the said city is authorized to pay the seve- 
ral sums which shall be so apportioned upon the drafts of either 
of the Commissioners or of the Trustees, or other persons duly 
authorized to receive the same : but no such drafts shall be paid 
unless countersigned by the President and Clerk for the time 
being of the Board of Education. 

§ 15. The Board of Education shall, on or before the first 
Monday of July in each year, report to the Board of Supervisors, 
an estimate of the probable amount which will be required to 
be raised during the year for the purpose of meeting the current 
annual expenses of Common School instruction, and whether 
more or less than the one twentieth of one per cent, in addition 
to an equal amount with the State quota, will be necessary, and 
it shall be the duty of the Board of Supervisors, or the Common 
Council, on their application, to raise the necessary amount 
pursuant to the provisions of section five of this Act : and the 
said Board of Education are authorised to retain from the mo- 
neys which shall be so raised the sum of five hundred dollars 



9 

for the purpose of defraying their necessary incidental expenses, 
and such further sum as may be required for the payment of 
the salary of their Clerk. 

5 16. The Clerk of the Board of Education, in addition to 
his duties as Secretary of said Board, shall also^perform such 
clerical duty as the Commissioners of the several Wards may, 
from time to time, require of liim. 

§ 17. All expenses incurred for the support of Common 
Schools, in the respective Wards, shall be certified by the Trus- 
tees and inspectors of Common Schools in said Ward, or a 
majority of them, and delivered to the Commissioners of said 
Ward ; and it shall be the duty of said Commissioners to audit 
and examine the same, and upon said commissioners being 
satisfied of their correctness, to pay the same out of the moneys 
which they shall have drawn, or which shall be deposited to 
their credit by the Chamberlain of the City and County as 
herein provided. All bills so audited and paid shall be filed 
with the Board of Education. 

§ 18. In making the apportionment among the several 
Schools, no share shall be allotted to any School from which 
no suflficient annual report shall have been received for the yeaj 
ending on the last day of January immediately preceding the 
apportionment. 

§ 19. Whenever an apportionment of the public money shall 
not be made to any School, in consequence of any accidental 
omission to make any report required by law, or to comply 
with any other provisions of law, or any regulation, the Board 
of Education may direct an apportionment to be made to such 
School, according to the equitable circumstances of the case, tc 
be paid out of the public money on hand ; or, if the same shal'< 
have been distributed, out of the public money to be received 
in a succeeding year. 



10 

§ 20. Should any money apportioned by the Board of Edu- 
cation to any of the Schools of the said City and County, 
remain unexpended for one year after such apportionment, by 
reason of the Trustees or Societies having charge of such 
Schools neglecting or refusing to receive the same, such money 
shall be returned to the Chamberlain of the said City and 
County, and reported to the Board of Supervisors. 

§ 21'. The Board of Education shall annually, between the 
first day of May and the first day of June, in each year, make, 
and transmit to the Clerk of the City and ounty, a report in 
writing, bearing date on the first day of May in the year of its 
transmission, stating : 

1st. The whole number of Schools within their jurisdiction, 
specially designating the Schools for colored children. 

2nd. The Schools or Societies from which reports shall have 
been made to the Board of Education, within the time limited 
for that purpose. 

3d. The length of time each School shall have been kept 
open. 

4th. The amount of public money apportioned or appropri- 
ated to each School or Society. 

5tb. The number of Children taught in each school. 

■ 6th. The whole amount of money received by the Commis- 
sioners, or by the Societies, and Schools, enumerated in the 
eleventh section, for the purposes of Common School Educa- 
tion, during the year ending at the date of their report, distin- 
guishing the amount received from the General Fund of the 
Stale, and from any other and what source. 



7th. The manner in which such moneys shall have been 
expended, and whether any and what part remains unexpend- 
ed, and for what cause. 

8th, With such other information as the Superintendent of 
Common Schools may, from time to time, require, in relation 
to Common School Education, in the City and County of New- 
York. 

§ 22. Should the Board of Education neglect to make such 
annual report, within the limited period, the share of School 
moneys apportioned to the City and County of New- York, may, 
in the discretion of the Superintendent of Common Schools, 
be withheld, until a suitable report shall have been rendered. 

§ 23. The Commissioners of each Ward, shall keep a just 
and true account of all School moneys received and expended 
by them, or carried to their credit ; and on or before the first 
Monday of June in each year, they shall render to the Board of 
Education, a just and true account, in writing, of all School 
moneys by them respectively received before the time of render- 
ina: such account, and the manner in which the same shall 
have been expended by them ; and the account so rendered, 
shall be filed and recorded in the office of the Clerk of the 
Board of Education. 

§ 24. If, on rendering such account, any balance shall be 
found remaining in the hands of the Commissioners, or any of 
them, or standing to their credit, the said balance shall be paid 
over, or carried to the credit of, the Commissioners of the Ward, 
for the ensuing year. 

§ 25. The Board of Education shall have the powers and 
privileges of a Corporation, so far as to enable them to take and 
hold any property transferred to them, for the purposes of Com- 
mon School Education, in the City and County of New- York. 



12 

§26. No compensation shall be allowed to the Commissioners, 
Inspectors, or Trustees, of Common Schools, for any services 
performed by them ; but the Commissioners and Inspectors 
shall receive their actual and reasonable expenses, while attend- 
ing to the duties of their office, to be audited and allowed by 
the Supervisors of said city and county. 

§27. The said Commissioners of each Ward, shall, within 
thirty days after their election, execute and deliver to the Su- 
pervisors, aforesaid, a bond, with such surety or sureties, as said 
Supervisors shall approve, in the penalty of double the amount 
of public money appropriated to the use of the Common Schools 
of their respective Wards, the preceding year, conditioned for 
the faithful performance of the duties of their office, and the 
proper application of all moneys coming into their hands, for 
Common School purposes. Such bond shall be filed by the 
said Supervisors in the office of the County Clerk. 

§28. The Commissioners of Common Schools, of each Ward, 
together with the Inspectors elected in their Ward, shall be the 
Inspectors of Common Schools of their Ward. 

§29. It shall be the duty of the Inspectors of Common 
Schools to examine into the qualifications of candidates for 
teaching Common Schools, m their respective Wards ; and iS 
shall be necessary for, at least, two Inspectors to certify to the 
qualifications of any teacher, in respect to moral character, 
learning and ability, before he or she can be employed in any 
School, that may be subject to the provisions of this Act. 

§3U. Each candidate, whose qualifications are approved, shall 
be entitled to receive a certificate from the Inspectors, signed by 
them, in such form as shall be prescribed by the Superintendent 
of Common Schools. 

§31. The Inspectors may annul any such certificate given 



13 

by them or their predecessors in office, when they shall think 
proper, giving at least ten days' previous notice, in writing, to 
the Teacher holding it, and to the Trustees of the Ward in 
which such Teacher may be employed, of their intention to 
annul the same : but the annulling of a certificate shall not 
disqualify the Teacher to whom it may have been given, until 
a note thereof, in writing, containing the name of the Teacher, 
and the time when the same was annulled, shall have been 
made by the Inspectors, filed in the office of the Clerk, and ap- 
proved by the Board of Education. 

§32. It shall be the duty of the Inspectors and Trustees of 
each Ward to see that all Schools in their respective Wards, 
under their immediate management, are visited at least once in 
each month, to examine into their state and condition, the pro- 
gress of the scholars in learning, the condition of the books and 
other property belonging to the Schools, and all other particu- 
lars relative to their order and management ; and they may give 
their advice and direction to the Teachers as to the government 
thereof, and the course of studies to be pursued therein, and also 
report the results of their visits and examinations to ^the Board 
of Education. 

§33. Each of the Inspectors, by agreement with, or direction 
of the other Inspectors, may be assigned to a certain number of 
Schools, which it shall be his special duty to visit and inspect. 

§34. It shall be the duty of the Tiustees of each Ward, and 
tliey shall have power, 

To have the safe keeping of all the property belonging to the 
Schools, organized under this Act, in their respective Wards : 

To Contract with and employ all the Teachers, in the said 
Schools: And 



14 

To pay the wages of such Teachers, and other School ex- 
penses, by drafts, on the Commissioners of their respective 
Wards. 

§35. It shall be the duty of the Trustees of each Ward to 
procure for the use of each School, in their Ward, organized 
under this Act, two bound blank books, from time to time, as 
shall be necessary ; in one of which, the account of all moneys 
received and paid by the Trustees, and a statement of all move- 
able property belonging to each School, shall be entered at large 
and signed by such Trustees. In the other of said books, the 
Teacher shall enter the names of the scholars attending School, 
and the number of days they shall have respectively attended, 
and also the days on which such School shall have been visited 
by the Deputy Superintendent and the Ward Inspectors, which 
entries shall be ratified by the oath or affirmation of the principal 
Teacher, in each School. The said books shall be preserved 
by the Trustees, as the property of the Schools, and shall be 
delivered to their successors, 

§36. The Trustees of each Ward, and the Trustees or Man- 
agers of the various Schools and Societies, enumerated in the 
eleventh section of this Act, shall, on or before the fifteenth day 
of February, in every year, make and transmit a report, in wri- 
ting, to the Board of Education. Every such report made by 
the Trustees of a Ward, shall be signed and certified by a ma- 
jority of the Trustees making it ; and those made by the Trus- 
tees or Managers of the Societies and Schools aforesaid, shall 
be signed by their presiding Officer and Secretary, which reports 
shall fitate : 

1st. The whole number of Schools within their jurisdiction, 
specially designating the Schools for colored children : 

2d. The length of time each School shall have been kept 
open. 



15 

3d. The whole number of scholars, over four and under six* 
teen years of age, which shall have been taught, free of expense 
to such scholars, in their Schools, during the year preceding 
the first day of February ; which number shall be ascertained 
by adding to the number of children on register, at the com- 
mencement of each year, the number admitted during that 
year, which shall be considered the total for that year. 

4th. The average number that has actually attended such 
Schools, during the year, to be ascertained by the Teachers 
keeping an exact account of the number of scholars present 
every school time or half day ; which being added together, 
and divided by four hundred and eighty, or if less than a ye*r, 
by the number of School sessions, shall be considered the ave- 
rage of attending scholars, which average shall be sworn or 
aflSrmed to by the Teachers. 

• 

5th. The amount of moneys received during the last year, 
from the Commissioners of School Money, or from the Cham- 
berlain of the City, and the purposes for, and the manner in 
which, the same shall have been expended. 

6th. A particular account of the state of the Schools, and of 
the property and affairs of each School under their respective 
care, with such other information as the Board of Education 
shall from time to time require. 

§37. Every Trustee or officer of a School or Society who 
shall sign a false report to the Board of Education, with intent 
to cause the Board of Education to apportion and pay to his 
School or Schools, a larger sum than its just proportion of the 
School moneys of the City, shall, for each offence, forfeit the 
sum of twenty-five dollars, and shall also be deemed guilty of 
a misdemeanor. 

§38. All personal property vested in the Trustees of any 



16 

Ward, for the use of Schools in such Ward, or which may be 
hereafter transferred to such Trustees for such purpose,, shall 
be held by them as a Corporation. 

§ 39. Every Trustee of a Ward, on the expiration of his 
term of office, shall render to the remaining Trustees of that 
Ward a just and true account in writing, of all moneys received 
by him for School purposes, and of the manner in which the 
same shall have been expended. 

§ 40. Any balance of such moneys which shall appear from 
such account to remain in the hands of any Trustee whose 
tejfm of office shall have expired, shall immediately be paid to 
the remaining Trustees of that Ward, 

§ 41. Every Trustee who shall refuse or neglect to render 
such account, or to pay over any balance so found in his hands, 
shall, for each offence, forfeit the sum of fifty dollars ; which 
sum, together with said unpaid balance, shall be sued for and 
collected by the Board of Supervisors, who shall prosecute with- 
out delay for the recovery of such forfeiture, together with the 
unpaid balance ; and in case of the death of such Trustee, suit 
may be brought against his representative, and all moneys re- 
covered after deducting expenses, shall be placed at the disposal 
of the Board of Education, to be appropriated the ensuing year. 

§ 42. All children between the ages of four and sixteen, resi- 
ding in the City and County, shall be entitled to attend any of 
the Common Schools therein ; and the parents, guardians or 
other persons, having the custody or care of such children, shall 
not be liable to any tax, assessment or imposition for the tuition 
of any children other than is herein before mentioned. 

§ 43. In any suit which shall hereafter be commenced against , 
Commissioners or Trustees of Common Schools for any act , 



17 

performed by virtue of, or under color of, their offices, or for any 
refusal or omission to perform any duty enjoined by law, and 
which might have been the subject of an appeal to the Super- 
intendent, no costs shall be allowed to the plaintiff, in cases 
where the Court shall certify that it appeared on the trial of the 
cause that the defendant acted in good faith. But this provision 
shall not extend to suits for penalties, nor to suits or proceed- 
ings to enforce the decisions of the Superintendent. 

§ 44. The Board of Supervisors of the City and County shall 
appoint a County Superintendent of Common Schools for such 
City and County; such County Superintendent shall hold his 
office for two years, subject to removal by the Board of Super, 
visors, on complaint, for causes to be stated. A certified copy 
of every resolution making such appointment, shall be trans- 
mitted by the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors to the Super- 
intendent. Such County Superintendent shall have power, 
and it shall be his duty. 

1st. To visit and examine all the Schools committed to his 
charge, as often in each year as may be practicable, having re- 
ference to the number of such Schools ; and at least twice in 
each year, to notify the Inspectors of Common Schools of the 
Ward of the time appointed to visit the Schools in such Ward, 
and to invite such Inspectors to visit with him the said Schools, 
and with such Inspectors, if they or any of them will attend at 
such visits, or without their presence, at any time, to inquire 
into all matters relating to the government, course of instruc- 
tion, books, studies, discipline and conduct of such Schools, 
and the condition of the School Houses, and of the Schools 
generally, and to advise and counsel with the Trustees, in rela- 
tion to their duties, the proper studies, discipline, and conduct of 
the Schools, the course of instruction to be pursued, and the 
books of elementary instruction to be used therein, and ex- 
amine, and ascertain, and report to the Board of Education, 
whether any of the provision of the Act, in relation to religious 



18 

sectarian teaching aud books, shall have been violated in any 
of the schools of the different Wards of the City. 

2d. To examine persons offering themselves as candidates 
for Teachers of Common Schools, and to grant them certifi- 
cates of qualification, in such form as shall be prescribed by 
the Superintendent, which certificates shall be evidence of the 
qualifications of such Teachers in every Ward of the City and 
County. 

3d, By and with the consent of any two Inspectors of any 
Ward, to annul any certificate granted to any Teacher in said 
Ward, whenever such Teacher shall be found deficient. 

4th. And, generally, by all means in his power, to promote 
sound education, elevate the character and qualifi.cations of 
Teachers, improve the means of instruction, and advance the 
interests of Schools committed to his charge. 

§ 45, Any County Superintendent, may, at any time, resign^ 
his office to the President of the Board of Supervisors, and in 
case of a vacancy in the office, from any cause, the Common 
Council may fill the vacancy, until the next meeting of the 
Board of Supervisors. 

§46. The County Superintendent shall be subject to such ge-. 
neral rules and regulations, as the Superintendent may from time 
to time prescribe, and appeals from his acts and decisions, may 
be made to the Superintendent, in the same manner and with 
the like eflfect, as in cases now provided by law, and he shall 
make annually, to the Superintendent, at such time as shall be 
appointed by him, a report, in writing, containing the whole 
number of Schools in the City and County, distinguishing the 
Schools from which the necessary reports have been made to 
the Board of Education, by the Commissioners or Trustees of 
Common Schools, and containing a certified copy of the report 



19 



of the Board of Education to the Clerk of the City and County 
with such additional information as the Superintendent shall 
require, and for that purpose, he shall have acesss to the re 
ports of the Board of Education, filed with the Clerk of the 
City and County, and also to the reports of the Commissioners 
and trustees, filed with the Clerk of the Board of Education 
without charge. ' 

§ 47. The County Superintendent shall be allowed two dol- 
lars for each day necessarily spent in the discharge of his du- 
ties, and the amount shall be audited and certified by the 
Board of Supervisors of the City and County ; one equal moiety 
of said amount, shall be a charge upon the City and County 
and shall be raised and paid in the same manner as other 
charges upon the City and County. The other moiety shall 
be paid by the Treasurer, on the warrant of the Comptroller 
out of the annual surplus now appropriated to the capital of the' 
Common School Fund, arising from the income of the moneys 
deposited by the United States. 

§ 48. In case of the death or resignation of any member of 
the Board of Education, or of any Inspector or Trustee, or of a 
neglect, or refusal, to qualify or give the prescribed security on 
the part of any Commissioner, Inspector or Trustee, the va- 
cancy so occasioned shall be filled by the Common Council, 
until the next annual election. 

§ 49. The Supervisors of the City and County of New- York 
are hereby authorised and directed, notwithstanding the passage 
of this Act, to audit and allow accounts which maybe present- 
ed to them for the completion of contracts that may have been 
already made, under the provisions of the Acts hereby amend- 
ed, and to raise and collect, according to law, the sum necessary 
for that purpose. 

§ 50. The Act of April Uth, 1842, and the amended Act of 



20 

April 18th, 1843, in relation to Common Schools in the City 
and County of New- York, and all other Acts, specially appli- 
cable to Public or Common Schools in the City and County of 
New- York, as far as the same are inconsistent with the pro- 
visions of this Act, are hereby repealed. 

§ 51. This Act shall take effect immediately. 

State of New- York, 

Secretary's Office. 

I have compared the preceding with an original Act of the 
Legislature of this State, on file in this office, and do certify 
that the same is a correct transcript therefrom, and of the whole 
of said original, (section 11, line 2, the words ^^the Roman 
Catholic Orphan Asylum School,''^ and section 12, line 24, 
the words " Christian sect, or which shall teach the doctrine 
ar tenets of any^^ being interlined. 

ARCH'D. CAMPBELL, 

Dep. tSec. of State. 

Albany^ May 9, 1844. 



mIt,!,^,^.'^^^ of congress 



020 312 174 A 



